


You're in Deep Water now, Kid

by Doodletaztic



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Confusion, Drowning, M/M, Mystery Shack, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Stan is the same douche he's always been, blood/gore, fears, human!bill cipher, mentally unstable, mild body horror, older!Pines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:55:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4149114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodletaztic/pseuds/Doodletaztic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper and Mabel moved to Gravity Falls to continue their high school there. However, on a fateful day during summer vacation, everything goes wrong. Dipper goes blind and Bill arrives with a rather, complicated proposal for him, something that may alter his life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1. Please let me survive..

The sun was up, there really was nothing to complain about. Well, for the exception of the weather to be extremely, and I mean, extremely hot. Grunkle Stan had decided to show Mabel and Dipper the place where he and his deceased twin brother, Stanley used to play when they were kids.

It had been 5 summers since they started visiting their Grunkle during their holidays. They never really heard from Bill Cipher again, not since the time he decided to “Borrow” Dippers body. Everything had seemed so peaceful since back then. However, Dipper always had this feeling that something big was about to happen, and soon. But he just couldn’t figure out what it was. His hairs were constantly on edge and he sometimes looked like a paranoid maniac who rather should be staying at a mental institution than be in these mysterious woods. Mabel always said that he over-reacted and there really wasn’t going to happen anything. But it was extremely difficult to just throw away the constant feelings of being watched every time they visited Gravity Falls.

Dipper had decided to apply for the high school, which was situated a little over 2 km. out of town. The reason for this, was that he didn’t like his current school, simple as that. He was constantly being bullied and beat up because of his fascination with the occult and supernatural. No one believed him, except from his sister.  
When his sister found out that he came home with wounds or was bleeding, she immediately scolded the ‘bullies’ the next day and threatened them to leave him alone. Dipper was happy that his sister helped, but he didn’t like the fact that she had to become a target herself because of him. In the end, people started to mock her or even isolate her from the class. Well, except for her few friends. She never seemed to mind it, saying it was a result of people being low lives not worthy of her attention. Nevertheless, Dipper could see that it was tearing her up from the inside. He therefore decided to move to Gravity Falls to live with his Grunkle and walk or ride his bicycle to school.

When he told Mabel that he decided to move schools, leaving it out that he mainly did it for her social life and well-being, she decided to move with him. Dipper was against the idea at first but slowly got used to his sisters demand of justice and equality for twins. They soon after the decision was made, called their Grunkle Stan to ask him for permission to live with him during and after the summer holidays, so they could go to school from there. He agreed and their parents were in on the idea too. Maybe because then they would have less mouths to feed and it seemed like their kids liked living with their Grunkle.

Mabel and Dipper had decided to start their summer early and resigned from their high school so they early on, could move in to live with Stan and get comfy before school started + they would have all summer exploring the woods once more. It always seemed to change one way or another.  
A week after they had moved their stuff into the Mystery Shack, their Grunkle Stan had decided to show them something, because it was insanely hot weather anyways. It was a little drive from the Shack, but it would be worth it he said.

Grunkle Stan had just pulled into a little parking spot designed for people visiting these parts of the woods, when Dipper and Mabel jumped out of the minivan, panting. The van’s A/C was broken so the whole way they had to rely on open windows, which didn’t help at all because the air was so humid. Stan jumped out of the car too, not panting, but incredibly sweaty all over his body. He was wearing nothing but some old navy blue shorts (Dipper wasn’t sure if they were even from this century) and his white tank top, mostly turned grey from all the sweat.  
Mabel was for once without a sweater and already in her pink and sparkly bathing suit. Covered by a small purple beach scarf she’d made. She had decided to leave Waddles at home in his little “Piggy farm” as Mabel called it, with the fan on full blast so he wouldn’t turn to bacon, as Dipper had joked. Mabel had just looked extremely annoyed at him, the heat making it unable for her to comprehend the joke.

Stan looked around on the parking lot, remembering the place with awe. “Aah.. this reminds me of the good ol’ days”. He sighed looking around once more before turning to the kids. “Well.. should I show you the place I mentioned?”, “YESS!! Please Grunkle Stan! I’m melting over here!” Mabel pleaded. She was already situated in the shadow of a big tree but apparently still sweating and panting even though she was the person with the least amount of clothes on. “All right! “ Stan yelled, as if to pump himself up. They grabbed whatever items they had brought with them to this trip and headed for a path leading into the forest. Mable bought her own homemade tube to float in the water with, with her. Stan brought a chair from the pool in Gravity Falls along. ‘Probably stolen’ Dipper thought. Dipper had a mental discussion with himself about whether or not he would be able to continue this.. exploration of the land, beyond the tiny parking lot. Already soaking in his own sweat and panting like his sister, he didn’t think that another step would be possible for his body to take. “Come ooon Dipper! “ Mabel yelled from behind one of the bushes leading away from the parking lot where Dipper stood. He was looking straight at his feet, hands on his knees to make sure that he didn’t collapse in this heat. “yeah..” He sighed, “Coming”. He straightened up and took one heavy step after the other, only feeling more and more exhausted as he did so. Only when Dipper reached the other side of the bush from where Mabel had called for him, he looked around.

Grunkle Stan and Mabel where no-where to be seen. ‘They can’t have gotten that far yet’ Dipper thought to himself. He took a couple of more steps in the direction of where he assumed that they must’ve gone, depending on the direction they had left the parking lot. ‘Maybe they went his way’ Dipper thought, as he started down the little trail, leading to what he assumed would be the destination. He breathed in, taking in all the new smells of this unexplored, flourish land. Getting a little giddy as he did so. Being in a forest always made his mood better. In the car, he and Mabel had been extremely exited for this trip. Had it not been for the heat, had they shown it. Everting in the woods were silent. It happened sometimes when animals sensed danger and hid, but something was wrong. There was no sound at all. Not even a chirp from one of the birds or a rummaging in the bushes. Everything was completely still as Dipper moved down the trail. Almost as if the trees and grass was holding it’s breath.  
Dipper couldn’t help but feel a tingle down his spine, as if he was being watched again. The forest surrounding the parking lot, a little too quiet for his taste. Suddenly Dipper felt a chill and spun around on his heel, almost fast enough for him to get a whiplash. Nothing.. Nothing was there. Maybe he was just making stuff up in his head. Maybe he really was starting to lose his mind being in these woods. Maybe Mabel had been right when she said that he was too paranoid and suspicious of everything. Dipper felt a drop of sweat forming on his brow. He frowned a bit still looking in the direction of where he thought he felt something lurking. ‘hmmm’ dipper thought. He turned around and continued down the path. The woods getting ever darker as he continued.

Suddenly a flock of birds flew up from the trees above him. Making him stumble backwards and fall from surprise. “WHAA!” He screamed.

*thump*

“Ouch.. What the? What was that about?” Dipper said into the air, not expecting an answer. The forest grew quiet again.  
“DIPPEER!! Where are you!?” Mabel called from not too far in the distance.

“Oh, so they weren’t that far away after all… I’m coming!” Dipper yelled back. He stood up and brushed off the dirt that had gotten on his forest green shorts when he fell. “tsk. Stupid birds.. What was all that about huh?” He mumbled to himself as he started to walk, still fixing his clothes. As he continued down the trail, he realized that the path he walked on ended up ahead rather suddenly, a bush blocking the path. “Mabel! Where am I supposed to go?” Dipper yelled out. Waiting a bit before there was an answer. “Just continue through the bush! But watch out for sharp branches!” Mabel yelled back. Dipper sighed. “Ugh.. you’ve got to be kidding me”. He looked around to see if there wasn’t a way around the bush, but without luck.

Dipper pushed himself through the bush. It was deeper that he expected and a few of the branched clung to his red T-shirt and blue vest, ripping small holes in the side of his T-shirt. “Nouu.. This T-shirt was one of my best. Tsk” Dipper exclaimed.

As he reached the other side of the bush, his clothes was tattered and he had leaves on his cap from the mystery shack. He had to buy a new one with money this time, as the hat he had when he was 12 had gotten too small.

He brushed off the leaves and grumbled to himself “This might very well be the worst day of this summer.. ever”. The trail continued on the other side of the bush he walked through and took a sharp right turn. As Dipper tuned he saw that he was finally at the destination. The forest split to both sides after he stood at the end of the trail. It rounded a rather big lake surrounding the area with rocks, trees and a high cliff at the right of where Dipper stood. It was actually a rather pretty place. The water was clear by the shore but turned a dark color, as the water got deeper. “OH! Bro-bro! You finally arrived! isn’t this just wonderful?!” Mabel screamed with joy, jumping up and down in the dark sand. She wore her Yellow tube around her waist, bouncing with her as she jumped, squealing. 

It was so Mabel.

“Yeah..” Dipper mumbled, looking a little petrified out over the vast blue water, frozen to the spot. “Hey Dipper!” Stan yelled from his chair. “Why so glum? Get in the water!. It’s cold enough for both of you!” He started laughing so hard, his stomach bounced with every breath of his laughter.  
“Grunkle!” Mabel yelled. “You know Dipper can’t swim very well! He shouldn’t do anything too straining!” Mabel had always been furious when it came down to people mocking her little brother. Even if it was family.  
Grunkle Stan looked away, a little annoyed.

“It’s okay Mabel, I’ll.. I’ll just hang around somewhere” Dipper said silently, tilting his head while giving his sister an awkward smile. She looked a bit suspiciously at him. There was an awkward silence Dipper couldn’t stand before she shrieked “Okay, I’ll go swim then!” running towards the water.

*Splash*

“WEEEE!” Mabel was spinning around in her tube in the water, squealing with joy.

Dipper turned around on his heels and wandered up the side of the cliff that was on the right of the track he had arrived from. He had to hold on to tree roots, grass and some of the rock pocking out, so he could get up.  
“I think I’ll just read in the journal and wait for this day to be over so we can go home” he said to himself while he heaved his slim legs over the edge of the cliff. Dipper sat down on the edge of the cliff, on the side facing towards the blue lake water, looking down at his laughing sister. “She looks like she’s having a lot of fun” Dipper said, smiling caringly as he decided to pull out the journal from his vest, swinging his legs back and forth separately over the cliff side. It may be that Dipper couldn’t swim, but he most surely wasn’t scared of heights. He’d always climbed tall trees with his sister.  
Dipper studied the journal thoroughly as he searched for something that could tell him why he was feeling watched every now and then.

It had already been an hour, when Dipper finally looked up from his book. He searched for his sister by the waterline but she wasn’t there. When he lifted his gaze and looked out at the deeper end of the lake, he recognized Mabel’s silhouette, floating about. Her limbs hanging over the edge and her back and stomach in the hole of the tube. Apparently asleep.

“DIPPER!!! I forgot my sunscreen in the van! I’ll just go get it! Be back in a few!. Watch over you’re sister for me!” Stan yelled, standing beside his chair, turning to walk into the woods from where they came. When he reached the tree line, Dipper finally yelled back. “Okay! I got it!”. Stan just waved, his back turning the water.

The lake wasn’t big enough for Mabel to be unable to swim to shore if anything went wrong, he thought. She had always been an excellent swimmer; her swim teacher had told her a few years back.

Reminiscing a bit about the past made Dipper fix his gaze at the sky, totally blocking out the sight he was resting upon.  
When Dipper finally snapped out of it, he realized that there was a threatening cloud hovering just on the other side of the lake. It filled the entire skyline from where it approached. ‘I better tell Stan, it may be an upcoming storm’ Dipper thought as he rose from his sitting position and put the book back into his vest’s inner pocket.

He looked around the beach trying to see if Stan had returned, but without luck. He decided to try if he could come in contact with Mabel instead.  
“MABEL!!” He yelled to her, “Wake up Mabel! Look above you! Mabel!”

Nevertheless, it bore no fruit trying to wake her. It actually never did. Whenever he had tried to wake her in the morning, she had always brushed him off saying something like “Leave me mortal. I need my beauty sleep”. Dipper never blamed her though. It had taken a toll on her too, whenever he had woken up from a nightmare crying like mad. Dipper had since his first summer visiting Gravity Falls, had nightmares often. They wouldn’t be bad at first, but still scare him or make him cry. But recently, since they moved, his sister would hear him from her room and wake up to his screaming. He never told Mabel that the nightmares had gotten much worse. Cause then she wouldn’t enjoy her summer as she deserved. Cold sweat ran down Dippers spine when he thought about the nightmares and what they entailed.

Dipper had no choice but to climb back down from the small cliff and go to the waterline to see if he could wake Mabel up that way. Maybe throwing some sticks and rocks in the water near her. Of course never hitting her. Dipper had a terrible shot so he would never be able to hit her, even if he was aiming.

As he climbed down the cliff, hanging on to small branches and the cliffside itself, he got the feeling of being watched again. Cold sweats running down his back and a mild shaking in his hands started, but he paid it no heed. Recently when he felt watched, he would just toss it aside and pretend it wasn’t happening. That it was all in his head, as Mabel said.

Finally Dipper reached the ground with his right foot. And while putting his other down, he turned around on his heel to look out over the water while walking towards it.

The dark cloud had gotten closer rather quick. Too quick for comfort, Dipper thought.

He stepped out to the waterline, only standing about two feet from it and started to try and wake Mabel up again. “Mabel!! Listen! You need to get to shore, NOW!”

Mabel moved, but didn’t wake up. ‘ugh.. come on, Mabe!l’ Dipper thought as he picked up a rock the size of his hand. “Then how about THIS!” He yelled, throwing the stone as far as he could, to reach near Mabel’s tube.

*SPASH*

The rock sank into the water, but not even close to where Mabel was floating. Maybe 6 feet from her. “Shit.. this really isn’t working”. Dipper said aloud, as if to tell himself he was wasting time.

The wind picked up in speed and tucked at Dipper’s clothes. “Shit” he mumbled. This is bad. Dipper was staring to panic a little, because if the wind got any stronger than this, then Mabel could be pulled further out to the deeper end of the lake and be caught unguarded. That resulting in making her fall out of the tube and into the water, making it impossible for her to reach the shore before the waves would pull her under.  
“No, no. Don’t think such dark thoughts Dipper!” Dipper said to himself, shaking his head frantically. The shaking in his hands had gotten worse and he could feel the panic rise from his chest.

He started panting hard, feeling droplets of sweat forming on his forehead and the cold sweat which had disappeared, return. ‘STAN’! He can fix this! He can swim out to Mabel and wake her up!’ He thought, looking up into the sky, seeing that the cloud had gotten awfully close now. Almost hovering above Mabel’s head. “Shit” Dipper whispered. He turned and ran for the forest line to see if he could call for Stan or maybe look for him a bit in the woods.

"GRUNKLE STAN!!! Where are you!? Come quick!!" He yelled.  
The forest carrying his words with the wind for a little while. When there was no response, Dipper looked back above the water. Waves had started to form, and was making Mabel’s tube with her in it, sway a little. Dipper realized something he’d rather not come to terms with right now. He just wasn’t ready yet.

He had to save Mabel himself.

Dipper stepped carefully, as if the ground was sleeping and the smallest step could wake it from it’s slumber, towards the water line. His whole body slowly starting to shake frantically. “Shit!. Shit! SHIT!” Dipper yelled. He stepped out into the water, both his feet covered and sinking into the dark mud. He realized he’s still wearing his clothes but decides it doesn’t matter with a light shake of his head. He throws his cap off to the shore though. Trying to avoid losing it in the wind and water.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and stop the shaking. If he wasn’t as old as he was, he would’ve peed his pants, he thought.

Water had been scary for him for a long while. Ever since he almost drowned on a family trip with his parents and Mabel at a beach. He was just barely saved by the lifeguard and had chosen not to step close to deep water ever since. He was fine with bathtubs as long as the water wasn’t too deep.

Taking the deep breaths made Dipper relax a bit. But the shaking was still extreme and he could feel the wind tugging at his hair and clothes. As if it was pulling him further out into the water.

As Dipper stepped a few more steps out into the water he continued yelling for Mabel to wake up. Still not working though. Why was she able to sleep so sound when he never was? No. now wasn’t the time to think such things. He had to get Mabel out of the water and away from the menacing cloud. It was almost as if the cloud was a sign for something horrendous to happen. Dipper was beginning to reach the deeper water levels as the waterline reached his navel. The water that earlier this day was lukewarm, was now icy cold. Mabel wasn’t touching the water so she wouldn’t wake up from that either, Dipper thought as he fought the upcoming waves that tried to push him away from his sister. When he finally reached her, he was in water to his shoulders. He took a hold of the tube, as if to steady himself and tried to wake her once more.

“MABEL!! GOD DAMMIT, WAKE UP NOOOW!” Dipper practically screamed.

Mabel’s eyes shut up with a flicker and she looked around shocked.  
When her gaze hit Dipper, she gasped. “DIPPER!? What are you doing here?! How did you… what are you doing out here?” She looked at him with a surprised and puzzled expression.

“Mabel! You need to swim for the shore. I don’t like the looks of this cloud. It gives me a really bad feeling” Dipper pointed at the cloud. Mabel looked up at it and down to Dipper again. She nodded and went for her always, somehow, present fanny pack. She rummaged through the pink bag, spraying glitter and stuff into the water before she pulled out her grabbling hook. She aimed it on one of the closest trees and looked back at her brother, who was shaking very much by now, from the ice-cold water and body alarms going off inside his body. The waves were getting bigger, spraying water in Dippers face if he wasn’t aware of his surroundings and the wind was getting colder, gaining momentum.

“Hold tight bro-bro” She smiled at him, turning her gaze at the tree again. Dipper clung to the tube as if he aimed to squeeze the air out of it. “3-2-1- NOW!” Mabel screamed, pulling the trigger, making the grabbling hook fly towards the tree. It hooked itself to the tree. “you ready?” Mabel whispered. “I’m a little sca..!!!” Dipper was cut off. The tube flew across the water, towards the tree. “Weee!!! This is so fun! Right Dipper?” Mabel was yelling and screaming and generally having fun as she used to, while Dipper one the other hand struggled to hold on to the tube with his arms. His body being pulled behind by the water.

It felt as if the water was trying to stop Dipper from reaching the shore. Pulling his body down, and slowing his speed. “Mabel! I don’t think I can hol..!” Dippers grip on the tube loosened and he could no longer hold on to it. As soon as he let go he immediately sunk under the water.  
Mabel turned around, feeling the bump the tube made when Dipper let go. “Dipper?” *Gasp* “Dipper!” Mabel realized that her brother was nowhere in sight. Possibly under water. However, she couldn’t stop. The grabbling hoot kept pulling her towards the shore.

Dipper resurfaced with a splash. Coughing and gasping. He had swallowed some water when he was suddenly pulled under unguarded. He had gotten a little closer to shore and was now in water up to his torso when he stood up. He started moving towards the shore whereas Mabel was heading.

Dipper couldn’t yell for Mabel because he was coughing water up from his lungs and gasping for air. He therefore decided it would be best if he kept on going.

However, the lake and wind had other plans. The wind was tugging at Dipper again making him step a few steps back in the water, the waves pulling him also. He tried to fight the tide and the wind, but was unable to fight the current and was swept further and further out into the deepest end of the lake. When he finally couldn’t reach the bottom anymore, he sunk.

The water was freezing and his body was beginning to cramp, as he had been too long in the cold water, he thought. He struggled with what felt like his last strength to resurface and breathe.

 

Mabel had reached the shore and looked out into the ocean. Panicking at the missing body of her brother. She couldn’t hear him either. “Dipper!! WHERE ARE YOU!? DIPPER!?” Mabel panicked. She had realized that Stan wasn’t present, probably out peeing in the woods as nature had made him she assumed. She didn’t for the life of her know what to do. She had decided to skip the health aid classes and lifeguard lessons she was offered while being in the swim club in school, because ‘It was too boring’. But now she needed it more that ever.  
Tears started to roll down her cheeks and she frantically walked back and forth on the shore looking for her brother from all angles. Constantly looking at the water.

 

Dipper finally made it to the surface and took in a deep breath. He was barely floating and was constantly being pulled under. His clothes weighing down on him. He coughed and desperately tried to remain with his head over water. But the waves got the best of him and pulled him under once again. Only allowing Dipper to take a deep breath upon his decent into the dark water.

Mabel finally spotted her brothers head and arms splashing in the water several meters further away from where she had been floating earlier on. She noticed that he couldn’t reach the bottom and panicked further when she grasped that her brother was drowning. “Dipper! Hold on! I’m coming!” Mabel ran towards the shore that was closest to Dipper’s location so she wouldn’t have to be delayed swimming to him. But as soon as she reached the tree line stretching left of the path they had arrived from, Dipper disappeared again. “DIPPEEER!” Mabel cried.

 

The water was freezing and Dipper couldn’t breathe. He reached for the surface with his arms and kicked with his legs but nothing worked. He felt like the water was constantly pulling him down. His open eyes, soon unable to see anything as the water got darker and darker and in the end turned completely black. 

Dipper panicked and put his hands to his throat, as if to stop the remaining air in his lungs from escaping his lips. He struggled to stay awake. His consciousness starting to fade away. ‘This time was going to be different’ Dipper thought, in his last moments of consciousness. ‘This was going to be the start of a different life for Mabel and I. I still need to prove to Mabel that I can protect myself now, and that she can live the life she wants to, instead of protecting me all the time. I don’t wanna die now!. It’s not fair! I don’t want to die!’ Dipper was practically screaming in his mind.  
The water pressure was having a tight grip on his head and body. Blocking his ears for all sound that might’ve remained in the water from the storm above.

“I’ll.. I’ll do….. ANYTHING to survive this!” Dipper exhaled with his last breath as he began to fade out of consciousness.

Silence.

Stillness.

Nothing to sense at all.

Just.

Darkness.

 

“You owe me now, Pine Tree”


	2. Terrible News

The birds chirping outside were the only sound to be heard in the little beige room. The light in the room were a bit too bright compared to the light outside which had started turning orange and a warm pink. It seemed as if everything was completely still.  
Dipper started waking up ever so slightly by the noise of the birds, his body feeling numb and heavy in the warm and sticky bed sheets. Opening his eyes seemed to be a feat he was not yet ready for so he settled for listening to any recognizable sounds around him.

After a while listening to the birds, he heard a familiar sound which caused his heart to flutter and calm. The sound of a person sleeping. And a person one could not mistake as any other when you had a twin.

Mabel.

Dipper struggled to open his eyes but without luck. They were sealed shut. It felt like something was tucked over them because the fabric made his ears itch. He stilled when he heard another familiar sound. It came from a bit farther away but could still not be mistaken as someone else than Grunkle Stan. His snoring had always been phenomenal. Dipper tried a bit harder to open his eyes and this time, for a brief fraction of a second, it felt like it worked. But still he could see nothing. A dread started forming in his stomach, sending a chill from the back of his neck down his spine.

Dipper panicked for a few seconds before trying to take a deep breath and force himself to relax just a little, maybe it wasn’t so bad? Maybe it was just a cold cloth upon his forehead if he had a fever? Dipper remembered his mother doing so when he was sick.  
The only problem, the thing on his forehead wasn’t cold. He quickly discarded that information, deciding there had to be be a logical explanation to it if he relaxed.  
So Dipper settled with relaxing to the sound of his two loved persons slumber in the distance, while he decided to think about what in his memory, had seemed like a bad dream.  
The lake and his Grunkle retrieving something from the van. His sister on the shore of the lake, yelling something incomprehensible, and his surroundings getting colder as the light begins to fade. Dipper had usually been wrong in his accusations and suspicions but this time he must’ve been right. Because the memory of the coldest place he had ever been, and the fact that he felt numb and heavy and wasn’t able to move his body accordingly was evidence enough that it wasn’t just a nightmare.  
Dipper tried recalling what had happened while he was in the water. Why the huge, dark cloud had been hovering threateningly over the lake in the first place. Why it had seemed so unnatural. The thought lingered for a while, but Dipper couldn’t piece the puzzle together so he chose to investigate it later and get some much needed sleep for now. The sleepiness had been pressing behind his eyelids for quite some time now but he had just discarded the feeling. But now, he could no longer resist the sweet temptation of slumber.

Dipper started drifting off into sleep to the steady sounds of someone dears’ breathing.

\- - - 

The next time Dipper woke up, it was in the middle of the night. He could still hear Mabel’s’ pleasant breathing and Stan’s heavy snoring and luckily the birds were no more.  
This time Dipper managed to move up his right arm to rub at his eyes. It felt good to have some sort of control over his body again, though it wasn’t much. He still couldn’t move from his hips and down. As Dipper rubbed at his eyes he seemed to feel the cloth more directly. It gave a different feeling when he could touch something with his fingers instead with something he don’t really have any control over.

Dipper tucked a bit at the fabric and noticed it was tightly secured as a headband or a blindfold. Only, it was several layers thick and seemed impossible to remove. Maybe he had hurt his head or had gotten a rad scar out of the event. That would be really cool. He would wait it out and see if he was right or if it was only because he had an open wound somewhere on his head. Which was a pretty bad thing to have he remembered reading somewhere, dreading they had cut off all his hair. Another thought for later he decided.

From across the room he heard his Grunkle snore echoed in the room and it amazed Dipper that it hadn’t woken him before. Dipper was sad he couldn’t see his surroundings but he was convinced they were in a hospital. The smell of antiseptic gave it away and the fact he had something tightly wrapped around his head. As he began moving his body he felt something tight around his left hand. He tucked at it some more but it was somehow stuck in something with a warm and firm grip. He noticed it was a hand when he felt fingers tightening around his own in a weird hold when he tried prying his hand away. Only one person held his hands when he was sick or in the hospital in the past. And that was Mabel. It was relieving to have her by his side. The reassurance that everything was going to be alright meant a lot to dipper, it always had. He also noticed the beds dip in the direction Mabel was in and he guessed she had her upper body in the bed too.  
Dipper tried to speak, but only husk and puffs came out of his dry throat. One would imagine that after nearly drowning, a dry throat shouldn't exactly be the problem. Dipper reluctantly tried again, it hurt a lot but he had to let his sister now he was awake somehow.

After a few tries, he gave up. The gears in his mind started working, slow, but he tried. Suddenly it hit him, using his hands would be much more effective. Dipper couldn't quite comprehend why he hadn’t thought of that before, but after sleeping so much he came to the conclusion that the sleepiness must've been the cause of the lack of his brain's effectiveness.

He tried moving his free hand over to touch Mabel, but it hurt his left side so much he flinched. Dipper, confused and eyes prickling with the threat of tears moved his right hand down along his side to see what had caused the sudden pain.  
Under the covers Dipper could feel he wore a gown, the type with open backs that patients wore when they had been in for surgery. As his fingers slid over the fabric he could feel it was one of the newer ones, less worn and tattered than some of the hospitals older gowns were. It made him smile he didn’t have to wear something many others had had on their naked bodies. Dipper shuttered at the thought about his exposed behind but quickly discarded the thought to focus on his main train of thought. He felt along his rib cage on the right side of his upper body when his fingers found something to latch unto under the gown. Fumbling with the fabric Dipper expected it to be some sort of bandage or gauze. But as to why he would be bandaged or why he even hurt there didn’t come to mind. He couldn’t recall actually getting hurt under the whole ordeal of drowning in that terrible storm.

Disregarding his pain Dipper settled for trying to wake Mabel up again, only wincing a little bit when his body strongly protested against the action.  
Reaching over he just managed to lovingly pat Mabel on her soft and fluffy hair before his body complained and his hand flopped down onto his stomach. The quiet and small gesture stirred Mabel’s body a bit. A few seconds later Dipper could feel her rise from her heads position on the bed and he heard her yawn and felt her move about as Dipper guessed was her rubbing her eyes. One of her usual routines after waking up.  
Dipper patiently waited for something. Anything. An exclamation a gasp, even a scream if he knew his sister. But nothing came right away. Mabel seemed especially slow right now, and that usually only met one thing. She hadn’t been sleeping well or had been up for too long without sleep. Mabel juice only worked for so long. Dipper felt guilt forming in his chest at having his sister worry so much over him, she didn’t get enough sleep.

While Dipper seemed lost in his thoughts Mabel woke up properly and assessed the situation. 

A Screeching sound broke the comfortable silence in the room and Dipper winced. Now she was awake he thought. He didn’t have enough time to collect himself after the deafening sound before he felt Mabel jump up on the bed hugging him tightly. He was grateful she wasn’t sitting on him, his body wouldn’t appreciate that.

From across the room he heard Stan wake up and gasp. A creaking noise which could only be from whatever chair or bed he had been in resounded in the room. “kid..” Stan mumbled as he made his way over to the opposite side of the bed Mabel was sitting on and sat down, making the bed dip under his weight. Dippers neck started feeling damp and it was only then he heard the muffled sobs from his sister and felt her trembling.

 

Mabel had always been a happy carefree and optimistic girl, but hearing and feeling his sister crying like this made Dipper’s stomach curl and twist uncomfortably. He decided that it was time to draw Mabel’s attention. He patted what he thought was her shoulder blades and tried to push her away from him so he could try and dry her tears. While he did so he tried smiling the best he could despite his skin feeling tight on his bones. Almost felling like it was outstretched.

\----

Mabel’s scream had caused a lot of people to rush into his hospital room. Mabel hadn’t spoken a word since then. The scream was so intense as if it had been hiding in her throat for a long time. When the doctors and nurses came into the room she had just begun crying dry tears, sobbing with such intensity it hurt Dipper even more, knowing that his sister had no more tears to shed.

When the doctors and nurses had come in, some tried to comfort Mabel and others briefed Stan about Dipper’s condition and what needed to be done now. But all Dipper heard were muffled voices. Even Stan’s voice had dropped to a whisper, which he rarely did. A doctor and a nurse did some tests on Dipper, all the while talking calmly and composed as if to calm him down. But Dipper was calm. His body even relaxed during all the blood tests and fleeting hands all over his body.  
After a while it all got too much for him though. 

No one told Dipper anything, nor could he tell them anything. He had drunk a lot of water after he woke up. He had tried to speak but it had been drowned out by all the voices in the room and it seemed despite all the attention to his body, nobody noticed him trying to speak.

Mabel was still slightly sobbing and Stan just mumbled some garbled responses to the doctors.

Dipper began to get frustrated. It seemed as though nobody paid him any attention even though he clearly was the patient. It hurt hearing Mabel and just sitting there in the bed with no form of communication to the other people in the room just added to the frustration. Not even waving his hands and clapping the bed sheets seemed to work. And he still couldn’t control his body enough to get out of bed even though he could feel his legs and wiggle his toes.

It was like a bad dream.  
There had only gone a couple a minutes but it honestly felt like hours laying there in bed like a sitting duck.

In the end it all got too much for him. He slammed his fist as hard as he could down upon the nightstand and felt the jolt of pain shoot through his hand and lower arm. It left a stinging feeling but it was worth it. Everything quieted down and it felt like he got all in the room’s attention immediately.   
He had started crying from exhaustion, confusion and frustration and it left a damp and disgusting feeling behind the wrapping of bandages. No tear made it past the wrapping so if they could see him crying it would only be by the trembling of his body and his clenched fists.  
“Why won’t anybody.. tell me anYThing?” he sobbed. He tried to control his voice with a cough but he couldn’t control it when his voice cracked.  
After a while the doctors had decided to let his family tell the story. It would be kinder they said.  
The doctors and nurses left shortly after, gently patting him on his shoulder before closing the door after them.  
The silence after they left were deafening and Dipper sobbed again. “Mabel” it came out as a plea.  
“I’m right here Dipdop” came the quiet voice of his sister from somewhere on his right. She moved closer sitting in the bed, taking his hand in hers. Just hearing her voice again for the first time since the incident, instantly made him relax a bit.  
Dippers hand trembled slightly when he despite his dry throat, croaked out a silent question, “What happened?”.

He could hear Stan move towards him and sit in a chair beside the bed when his sister silently tried to explain the event.

Obviously Dipper had nearly drowned but had miraculously survived and had washed ashore on the other side of the lake in which Mabel had run up and down the shore. In the meantime Dipper was drowning, Stan had returned from the car breathless from running to the sound of Mabel’s dreadful screaming and crying. He had called for an ambulance immediately and spotted Dipper on the other side of the small lake right after. The two of them had then run over to Dipper and cradled his limb and cold body from the ground and held him tight in the fear that he was dead.

The ambulance arrived shortly after and retrieved Dipper and his family and driven them to Gravity Falls Hospital. He had spent 2 hours in the surgery room so they could determine his situation. After the explanation Dipper tensed. What had they found in the surgery room? Why was he there for such a long time? Why did his side hurt and why did he have bandages on his head, over his eyes? All these questions roamed around in his mind and he couldn’t decide which one to ask first.

“My eyes..” he settles with. The question didn’t form correctly in his mouth and he opened it to try again but his sister interrupted him gently.

“You’re blind, Dipper” Mabel’s voice cut the silence like a knife, stabbing him in his chest, pulling away with the words dripping from its edge. “What..?” Dipper squeaked. He was shocked beyond belief.  
“We don’t know why, even the doctors can’t find a reason as to why you turned blind after nearly drowning. It’s a mystery”. As much as Dipper loved mysteries, this was something he didn’t even want to know about. He gasped out a reply as soon as it formed in his head. “what, I.. I don’t understand..” he started sobbing quietly again. “Neither do we, kid.” Stan said, patting Dippers shoulder before squeezing it ever so slightly to reassure him. “we’re going to go home to the Mystery Shack the day after tomorrow Dipper” Mabel cut in. “maybe it’s only temporary?” she tried to be optimistic but even Dipper could hear the slight tremor of uncertainty in her voice, quiet as it may be.

They sat in silence like this for a long time. Only saying something brief to calm Dipper down as he continued sobbing.

After a long while Dipper opted to try and change the conversation a bit. This piece of information he couldn’t handle right now. Maybe he would think more clearly after he had some rest. But first he had to know. “Why do my side hurt to bad when I try to move?” this time Stan answered his question. “The doctors said something about a burn mark or a huge excoriation on your side just below your ribcage. Said something about you maybe hitting or scraping against the bottom of the lake, I don’t know”. With Stan’s hand on his shoulder he felt him shrug. It didn’t quite sit right with Dipper but it seemed to do the trick.

Dipper squeezed back his Grunkle’s hand and hugged Mabel again before trying to explain he would like to sleep on this information.

They both seemed to agree on his decision and explained they would go home and sleep now that he had woken up but that they would return in the morning. Dipper was against the idea of letting them go home because then he would be alone with his thoughts, should he wake up in the middle of the night, but decided it was for the best. They both clearly needed sleep by the way the both of them acted and he didn’t have it in his heart to make them stay just so he could sleep well when they suffered.

After a peck on his cheek from his sister and a pat on the head from his grunkle they went out the door.

Suddenly the room seemed oddly quiet and Dipper felt his drowsiness from earlier kick in. He got comfortable in the bed and closed his eyes. Despite his tired mind and body, sleep didn’t come easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My god. it's been so long since I posted the first chapter. Gosh. I'm ashamed. actually I've had this chapter ready for a long time now but recently decided to change the theme and just finished it today. well I hope you like it anyways. I for one, liked this concept better than my last.


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